New Census Bureau data showing that more than one in four Alabama children lived in poverty in 2013 underscores the need for Alabama to do more to help families get ahead and to help children get a good start in life, ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister said Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. The state’s disturbingly high child poverty rate – 27 percent, or 3 percentage points higher than it was in 2007 – shows that many families still have not recovered from the Great Recession.

"If we want Alabama to be a better place to live and work, we must invest in our people and our communities," Forrister said. "Making it easier for people to move up the economic ladder not only helps struggling families, but it also makes the economy stronger for all of us."